...This is only one gal's opinion, and i am a diehard Sammy fan, (if Sammy makes it, i buy it, and ask questions LATER) but man o man, this time Sammy, ol' pal, ol' bud, you missed the mark (by about a country mile : (
BTC
My first reply to this topic was a little flip, but having given this subject more thought, i am certain there are a multitude reasons for Sammy's demise, and here are some i came up with...
Even tho i at first felt "removing hardware features" added to the disappointment felt around the globe at Samsungs Aug 13 unveiling, i'd have to say this: I just don't see hardware feature removal or build materials as the problem....sure, it makes us die hard phone junkies and tech bloggers, "ooh & ahh", but honestly I have yet to come across a friend, co worker, family member stranger or anyone or i can think of that TRULY even knows half of what their phone can do or if it even has a removable sd card/ battery/ what the screen resolution is or what BLOATWARE even is"....
Wayyyy cheaper, well built phones are DEFINITELY a major contributing factor to Sammy's decline, and i am certain it added to Sony's, HTC's woes & certainly has LG on the ropes FOR SURE. If Sammy had taken a marketing cue from the smaller guys & downsized their advertising budget, (what with there being a Samsung Dept in every Best Buy & even some Office Depot's, are massive advertising campaigns even necessary?!) they could EASILY have knocked 25% - 35% off of costs and still deliver a premium phone..
Another i would cite is Sammy's "sneaky way" of naming EVERYTHING they produced after they had a success with their Galaxy S line, a "Galaxy S" device... Huge FAIL in my opinion...fooling many ppl into thinking they were buying (& paying a premium price) for devices that lacked the features & performance of the devices that DID deliver the hype. I know i certainly became distrustful of them when i started noticing that UNLESS u "disected each model BEFORE purchasing" you could wind up pretty burned...
Also, even tho they probably DID do massive research and polled the public, "would they embrace a bigger version of S6 Edge that didn't include an S Pen??!!", and probably received very positive feedback and a slew of unequivocal "yesssssss's"...i imagine they failed to ask the, "burning" follow up question: "Ok, NOW, would you pay $750.00 - $900.00 for it??!!
BUT i am citing #1 contributing factor is the design, plain & simple. If from a few inches away you CANNOT tell the difference from a Note 4 to a Note 5, and software wise you have ONLY minimally improved it. When the world has been watching & waiting for 6 months what you will do since Apple stepped up their game and u are no longer capable of wooing the ppl away with ur "bigger screen"...Since these days, any phone over 300 bucks can seemingly give the average consumer great performance.... Their double Edge design is nice, but its been out 5 months, they shouldn't have just brought "more of the same"...
In future if they want to stay competitive, they should focus on DESIGN, & PRICE" factor... Imagine Samsung introducing a flagship for about $500 bucks with all the bells & whistles with a new clean but elegant design? It could easily be done if they weren't so greedy & their marketing budget put under control...
Even i, who have NEVER cared for onscreen buttons think its time for that oval button to hit the skids, even a capacitive series of buttons like on the ZTE Axon would be preferred, , trash the "glass sandwich" design, and if you MUST design a keyboard for a phone (still scratching my head over THAT one- Does ANYONE need any further proof how "out of touch" Sammy has become?! A crappy scrunched together plastic keyboards for our beautiful phones? In 2015??!! ) At least have it be the length of the phone that opens from a smart cover case, like the Surface tablet....those are just a few ideas off the top of my head, its 6 am here!
But if Sammy wants to replicate their success of 3 years ago, NOT GONNA HAPPEN they should just "throw in the towel now".... The time of sitting on the edge of our seats WAITING for a "decent & powerful device has come & gone. Market is flooded... But that's not to say with some restructure and LESS HYPE about devices that are just "dang good & not try to present themselves as offering something u can't get up the street" is a BIG MISTAKE....
Lets not forget Apple is in a class by themselves, if someone wants an Iphone, they go to Apple, PERIOD. If someone wants an Android phone, Lord help them with the voluminous & abundant choice that are out there, almost MAKES u wanna run to Apple for the "simplicity of choice it offers!"
Not saying they can't EASILY bounce back, look how just 2 years ago ppl were saying Apple had become complacent and stubborn....They gve the ppl the 6 & 6+, updated IOS, added some flexibility & "voila! BACK TO THE TOP!"
BTC
(Gawwwwd, BTC, what a rant!! Thats what ya get when i'm up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning & everyone else still asleep...lol)